Posts Tagged ‘sketch’

Hold on to your NuvaRings. The Lady Sketch Show is back—and this year, we want YOU to help us make it bigger and better than ever!

Here’s how it’ll work:

We’ll be meeting on Saturdays 12-3 at the new Magnet Training Center (22 West 32nd Street, 10th floor) for six weeks starting January 31st.

You’ll bring in a mix of new and rewritten sketches each week (1 or 2). We’ll give each other feedback for rewrites. The best sketches will be put into the final shows (March 16th, 23rd and30th at 7pm).

For the first meeting all we ask is that you bring in is:

1. An example of a sketch that you saw on TV or staged and why you love it.
2. An example of something that happened in your day/week/month/life that you thought was really funny. Anything.

THAT’S IT! You don’t even have to write anything just yet. Give it a try.

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED:

But I’ve never written sketch or taken a sketch class.
That’s totally fine. We still want you.

But I really can’t write. Can I just perform?
You can get involved as a performer only. Come to the meeting anyway. You might find yourself accidentally writing something amazing.

But I can’t perform/memorize lines.
You can just write then.

I write better with a partner. I can’t do this on my own.
You and your (female) partner can present co-written material at meetings. Alternatively, if you realize you really like working with someone at the meetings, you can go off and write together.

I can’t make all the meetings.
Come when you can. What ends up in the show will be the best material, meaning it will probably have been presented to the group and rewritten a number of times, but feel free to show up when you can.

Is this going to be a comedy show only about periods and tampons?
No, it will be about whatever you decide to write.

But I’m still scared.
Follow your fear. Remember how hard improv used to seem before you actually tried it?

Sketch writer, actor, and improviser Jesse Acini sits down with host Louis Kornfeld to talk about getting his start in comedy, the growth of the Magnet community, and having more fun along the way. An active participant in the NYC improv and sketch scene since the early 2000s, Jesse talks about The Second City in NYC, discusses studying with Gary Austin, and otherwise litters this episode with tidbits about the olden days. Not to mention, he provides some solid advice for aspiring sketch writers! Jesse and Louis have known each other for eight years and this is the longest conversation they’ve ever had — you don’t want to miss it!

Here it is. Nick Kanellis – actor, improviser, teacher, story pirate and motion capture professional. Louis interviews one if the kindest and funniest improvisers ever to get killed by Peter McNerney onstage every week for years. They talk about his critically loved show Trike (w/ Peter McNerney), the perils of self-judgment, the joys of being a great sidekick and learning not to cry because it makes others uncomfortable. They go deep into the fallacy that we are ever in control of our own thoughts and feelings, and the healthy repression of primal fear. These two guys are smart, kind, and clearly good friends who enjoy each other. We hope you enjoy as well.

Elana Fishbein was in the first ever show at Magnet. And she was really good. 10 years later she’s an improviser, actor, writer, and teacher. She has Master’s Degree in Educational Theater from NYU, leads our Youth Program, and co-created two professional development workshop series for teachers: “Beyond Winging It: Improv in the Classroom” and “Play.” She can be seen with Story Pirates on stage and heard with The Truth Podcast your headphones. All in all, you’ve got a super funny improviser with interesting things to say about it. Listen to this great episode where Louis Kornfeld goes deep into the idea of forcing yourself to be vulnerable, improv accountability, shared ownership, and Canada. Enjoy!

18-time Moth StorySlam Champion (2-time GrandSlam Champion) and Magnet instructor, Adam Wade, as interviewed by Alex Marino. Adam Wade is an actor and storyteller based in NYC. He was recently seen on Comedy Central’s ‘Inside Amy Schumer’. Adam has been featured on The Moth Podcast numerous times and has performed at renowned NYC shows such as The Moths Main Stage, The Nights of Our Lives, The Rejection Show, The Liar Show, Mortified, Stripped Stories, Speakeasy Stories, and True Tales From College (which he is the co-producer and co-host of). He has appeared on the NFL NETWORKs Top 10 Football Follies, ESPNs Mayne Street and ESPN CLASSICs Classic Now where he interviewed such legends as Mike Ditka and Reverend Run from RUN DMC. He was a featured performer on Comedy Central’s Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and NBCs Late Night with Conan OBrien. He has written for NY Times, NY Press, Glamour Magazine, ESPN The Magazine and Hoboken Reporter.

I’m very happy to share this recording from the archive of Craig Cackowski interviewed live onstage at Magnet Theater by the well-prepared Louis Kornfeld. Craig and I were in class together with Del Close, on our first IO teams together, and when I was promoted from understudy, Second City placed me in his touring company. We did a lot of scenes from the Razowsky/Colbert/Carell and McKay/Adsit eras. He was great to tour with because he’s both reliable onstage in scenes and touring the country for long stretches in a van. Usually people are one or the other, but he was both. Onstage he’s casual but precise, and he’s got great timing both as an audience-pleasing comedian (in the good way) and as an improv partner. He rescues things, and if it can’t be rescued, he’ll go down with the ship. And it seems like he’s really enjoying himself either way. And since I’m on a roll here, I should mention he’s become one of the best, most sought after improv instructors in Los Angeles. Possibly because he’s committed to the things we learned in those classes with Del. But also because he’s sensitive to the advancements that have been made as long-form has evolved from an obscure experiment in the basement of an anonymous Chicago apartment building 24 years ago to the dominant comedy language spoken across America and beyond. And that’s thanks in no small part to Craig. So listen to this episode and see if you can hear what I hear – a genuinely good guy who cares about what he does, does it well, and has no need for false bluster. Enjoy. — Ed Herbstman PS: Craig is okay. But his little sister is like, 12 times funnier than him and at least twice as funny as me. Hi, Craig. Subscribe to the Magnet Theater Podcast via iTunes here.Enjoy Episode #11 on iTunes or below via SoundCloud.

Lane Kwederis is a sketch performer at Magnet (she and I are the two women on the sketch house team, Party.) Lane also performs with her indie improv team, Power Nap, and her PIT musical team, [Title of Team] (That’s the actual title of the team, not a placeholder for this article). She’s got skills. And she’s a wonderful person.

And I got to ask her some brilliant questions. I’m such a good interviewer. Check it out:

Reductress.com is the first and only fake women’s news magazine. They parody the entertainment, advertising, and other media sources that women consume daily. Forbes named it one of the top 100 websites for women last year. And it’s super funny.

Now you can listen as Magnet’s Alex Marino interviews these smart and funny writers on the nuts and bolts of creating a comedy platform, their process, how you can submit your writing, and where they are headed. This episode was recorded earlier this year at Magnet Training Center.